The
following is the second part of a 3 part article spanning 4 issues of
The Accurate Rifle.
Part I : January 2000 Volume 3 Number 12
Part II: February 2001 Volume 4 Number 1
Part III Section 1: April 2001 Volume 4 Number 3
Part III Section 2: May 2001 Volume 4 Number 4

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on any photograph to view an enlarged version. Use your back button
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Part II : Training

SELECTION

Admission into Force is by
means of a lengthy and demanding selection process. Any Marine, regardless
of Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) may apply. The applicant, regardless
of rank, needs first and foremost to be a proven performer (generally
for 3-5 years). The Company is looking for first class people--those
who perform well in the Physical Fitness Test, who are strong swimmers
and good shooters. He needs to have a GT score of 105. Ideally he will
be from an infantry battalion, but there are several Warehouseman and
Motor Transport Marines in the operational platoons. (One major plus
in the selection process is that all Marines have attended Boot Camp
and the School of Infantry. No matter what their MOS, they have shouldered
a rifle, read a map, and patrolled day and night).

On the last Thursday of every
month, applicants are invited to attend the indoctrination test. Previously
a less formal affair, it has been standardized and is administered without
harassment. There is nothing demeaning about the indoc. The standard
is set, and is not subject to change. The platoon administering the
test accompanies the applicants throughout the day--physical fitness
is a never-ending thing here.

It
begins with the standard Physical Fitness Test (PFT). Enlisted men must
score 275 (out of 300), and officers 285. It is followed by a timed
obstacle course and calisthenics exercise.

Because Force Reconnaissance
Marines are amphibious by nature, the pool is next. A series of swim
exercises follows. And if he is still hanging in, he is ready for a
10 mile "boots and utes" hump--over the hills of Las Flores and down
along the beach, with a 50lb. pack and a rubber rifle.

If he successfully completes
this physical test, he is afforded a psychological screening and then
an interview. For Officers, it is with the Company Commander. For enlisted
Marines, it is with the Company Sergeant Major and several of the senior
enlisted operators. They are looking for that special fire, a mean gene
inside of the Marine to ensure he will hang tough under the most difficult
of circumstances.

The
candidate may be dropped for any reason during this process, though
he can retake the indoctrination at a future date. (Many do. It is not
unusual for a Marine to make it after three or four attempts).

The percentage of those passing
the indoc fluctuates, but it is always closer to zero than 50%. What
has been noted is that an individual who passes the indoc will usually
complete 100% of the schools and successfully be integrated into a platoon.
It shows that the Marine has properly prepared himself mentally and
physically, and has made a commitment to succeed.

There is no automatic acceptance
into the Company. A Marine reporting in from any other Reconnaissance
unit must still take the indoc.

Before
he can join the Company, his Commanding Officer must agree to release
him--and this is not always easy. There has always been an institutional
dislike of Force by the rest of the Marine Corps. Many believe that
Force sucks up the absolute best men and an unbelievable amount of money
to perform their missions. That is absolutely true. But the tour for
enlisted men is five years, with a possible two-year extension, and
eventually these Marines go back to other units. When they do they bring
with them a tremendous amount of expertise and confidence. (This is
unlike the special forces of the sister services, where they have a
career field. They may stay forever if they choose, and the inability
to remain in Force Recon is something that irks many in the Company).

In spite of not having a
career path, the re-enlistment rate in 1st Force, not only among operators
but also support personnel has been near 100%. The Marines want to stay
in the Company, and for many reasons. There is a sense of mission and
purpose here that does not exist in most of the DOD establishment.

The work is hard, but they
are hard men and accept the challenge.

Training
within the Company is outlined by the Mission Training Plan (MTP). It
follows a systems approach to training, and the emphasis is to train
as they expect to fight. While this is often paid lip service to in
other units, it is the gospel here.

A quote from the MTP says
it all. "The best form of WELFARE for our Marines and sailors is first
class training; this saves unnecessary casualties".

The Mission Training Plan
has five phases, and is based on a two-year platoon cycle. Training
is ongoing and continuous, and functions as if it were a loop.

Phase 1 Individual Training
Phase

Phase 2 Unit Training Phase

Phase 3 MEU (SOC) Training
Phase

Phase 4 MEU (SOC) Deployment

Phase 5 Post Deployment

Phase 1 will last approximately
six months, and begins when a deployed platoon is returned to the Company.
The primary focus of effort here is the development of those basic skills
necessary to create an MOS qualified Marine (8654) new to the Company.
For those already qualified, it is the time to develop advanced reconnaissance
skills.

Additionally,
Professional Military Education (PME) requirements (NCO Course etc.)
must be met.

At the end of Phase 1, the
platoon is fully formed and ready to begin unit training. Listed below
are the minimum skills resident in each platoon at that time.

Basic
Reconnaissance Course - All members

Basic Airborne School - All
members

USMC Combatant Dive School
- All members

SERE School
- All members

Military Free Fall School
- All members

Ranger School
- All team leaders and above

Static Line Jumpmaster Course
- 2 per platoon

Military Free Fall Jumpmaster
Course - 2 per platoon

HRST Master Course
- 2 per platoon

Dive Supervisor Course
- 2 per platoon

LAR V Technician Course
- 2 per platoon

Ammunition Drivers Course
- 2 per platoon

USMC Scout/ Sniper Course
- 1 per team

Mountain Leaders Course (Summer)
- 1 per team

Mountain Leaders Course (Winter)
- 1 per team

Laser Operators Course
- 1 per team

Once
accepted into the Company, the Marine attends the Phase 1 Basic Qualifications.

These qualification courses
are the eight week long Basic Reconnaissance Course at Little Creek
VA. or Coronado, CA. While all Marines have received basic scouting
and patrolling at the School of Infantry, it is here that the Marine
learns the skills necessary to operate in the reconnaissance environment.

Next is the Combatant Dive
Course at Panama City, FL. During this eight-week course, the Marine
is introduced to closed and open circuit diving, dive physics and laws,
dive medicine, underwater searches, and other related subjects.

He then attends Basic Airborne
Course at Ft. Benning, GA. During this three-week school, he will make
his five qualifying parachute jumps.

At some point he will attend
Survival Evasion Resistance Escape (SERE) school at North Island, or
SERE Instructors School at Ft. Bragg.

For the Sailors, the schooling
is similar--with some notable differences. The Navy Corpsman assigned
to the Company are a special breed. While one would normally think of
medical personnel being non-combatants, working in a reasonably secure
environment, that is absolutely not the case of the Special Amphibious
Reconnaissance Corpsman. When assigned to a platoon, they are shooters
first, and caregivers second. As Senior Chief Robert Fitzgerald states,
"Fire superiority is the best type of combat medicine". (Senior Chief
is the senior SARC in the Navy, and another genuine hard guy in the
midst of a bunch of other very hard guys). In a platoon, the Corpsman
is assigned to the headquarters team. He will usually carry that teams
M249 SAW.

The
pipeline for the Corpsman runs for approximately 72 weeks of schooling,
exclusive of travel and administrative time (awaiting school quotas
etc.)

It starts with the 7-week
Field Medical Service School at Camp Pendelton or Camp Lejeune, where
he learns basic medical skills and how he will function in a Marine
Corps unit.

The Corpsman breaks from
his Marine brothers, and attends the 8427 specific schools. The first
is the Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman Diving Medicine Course at
Panama City, FL. From there he moves to the 24 week Special Operations
Combat Medics Course at Ft. Bragg.

And
finally, the 22-week long Special Operations Medical Sergeant Course
also at Ft. Bragg. The famous 18-D course is extremely demanding, and
trains the Corpsman to independently assess and provide minor and acute
long-term medical care for a variety of medical conditions, including
minor surgery.

Once the Corpsman joins a
platoon during the Phase 2 iteration, he attends all of the platoons
training. In the field he is indistinguishable from the Marines he serves
with. He is a member of a team, and functions exactly as every other
member of a Force Reconnaissance Platoon. (There have been Corpsman
designated as Team Leaders).

Prior to 1998, the operational
platoons were responsible for the conduct of their own training. This
was identified as being deficient. While there is a Standard Operating
Procedure (SOP) for the conduct of training, there was no consistency
in how the training was applied. Additionally, the platoon headquarters
was tasked with supervising the training, and therefore not able to
be trained--an obvious and glaring deficiency.

The
Commanding Officer instituted a Training Cell from Company assets comprised
of experienced Staff Non-Commissioned Officers and operating from the
S-3 shop. The T-Cell has the mission of organizing and conducting Phase
2 Training. This removes the responsibility of coordinating training
from the platoon headquarters, and permits them to train with their
men (rather then to just oversee the training). As the platoon headquarters
may act as a 4th Team under certain conditions, this training is necessary).

An additional and no less
important advantage to the T-Cell is that it acts as a training ground
for future platoon sergeants. Those assigned to the T- Cell are all
highly trained and experienced operators. Some have deployed as platoon
sergeants, and some have not. Those that have not will gain vital experience
not available elsewhere for the very tough and very rewarding job of
Platoon Sergeant. The T- Cell has been extremely effective in all aspects,
and its addition to the Company has paid off in spades.

Phase
2 is the Unit Training Phase, and is six months in duration. The platoon
is formed, and all new members have completed, at the minimum, all of
the basic qualification courses. The main purpose of this phase is to
allow the platoon to train in the collective team and platoon skills
required to execute amphibious and deep reconnaissance missions. Additionally,
the Company staff receives training in reconnaissance mission planning
and related procedures. The following is a list of courses completed
during Phase 2.

The
Advanced Long Range Comm package is three weeks long and is conducted
by the Company Communications Section. As the term Deep Reconnaissance
indicates, the platoon will operate well forward of other forces. In
order to report observations, call for fires or extract, all members
need to have a complete and thorough knowledge of the sophisticated
comm equipment carried. It includes manual Morse Code, and long-range
High Frequency (HF), satellite, multi- band, and digital communications.

The
Weapons and Tactics Package is three weeks long and is conducted aboard
Camp Pendelton, CA. It covers the MEU (SOC) .45 caliber pistol and the
M4A1 Carbine with the SOPMOD kit. Week 1 and 2 occur on the Special
Operations Training Group facility at Range 130 (however, the training
is conducted by the T-Cell). Each Marine will fire 5000- 8000 rounds
during these two weeks, becoming intimately familiar with both weapons.

The third week is spent on
the Live Fire/ Maneuver Ranges (LFAM) conducting immediate action (IA)
drills according to the Patrol SOP. Rotary wing support (utilizing AH-1J
Cobras for Close Air Support, CH-46D Marine Corps transports, Army National
Guard UH-60's, and Navy Seahawks from HSC-5).

The platoon also receives
force on force training, utilizing the Special Effects Small Arms Marking
Systems (SESAMS) for the CQBW and MEU (SOC) pistol. The SESAMS is a
militarized Simunitions ™ kit. Sims adds a whole new dimension
to training.

The Threat Weapons Familiarization
package (one week) is conducted by U.S. Army personnel at the National
Training Center (NTC). The ability to utilize your opponent's weapons
may mean the difference between surviving and dying. All current threat
small arms are covered in this package. (Interestingly, the Marine Corps
formerly had resident subject matter experts in this area. The Foreign
Material Acquisition and Exploitation Unit (FMAEU) had as a secondary
mission the training of Marine Corps units in the identification and
use of Soviet and Non- Soviet Warsaw Pact (NSWP) equipment. In a fit
of negative brilliance, it was stood down on 01Aug90--one day prior
to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.)

The
Force Fires Package takes place at Nellis AFB, San Clemente Island or
29 Palms in CA, or in Yuma, AZ. During this 2-week package, the Marines
refresh their basic knowledge of calls for fire, with special attention
to fixed and rotary wing CAS (Close Air Support) and NGSF (Naval Gun
Surface Fire). Laser designating equipment is taught and utilized to
control CAS.

The
3 week Advanced Airborne Package is to transition the platoon from Low
Level Static Line parachute techniques to High Altitude High Opening
(HAHO) using the MC-5 Ram Air Parachute, culminating with night combat
equipment jumps into unmarked Drop Zones from 24,999 feet.

This package is successful
for many reasons. One is the quality of the instructors. GySgt. Dennis
Walsh, GySgt. Monte Genegaubus and their assistants provide absolutely
top-notch instruction. There are few in the DOD establishment who can
match their expertise.

Another reason is the quality
of the equipment. One interesting and useful piece of gear is the virtual
reality trainer. Set up in the Paraloft, jumpers are put through a series
of exercises including malfunctions, variable wind conditions and so
forth. When he finally gets to tail gate a C-130 at 10,000' he has been
through the simulations a number of times and the procedures are familiar
to him.

The
Amphibious Training package (2 weeks) refreshes long-range nautical
navigation, and refines the platoon SOP for conducting hydrographic
surveys. Launch and recovery is from a variety of naval vessels, including
surface combatants and submarines. This training takes place at Seal
Beach and San Diego, CA.

Mobile
Reconnaissance package is to develop basic driver and mechanic skills
in order to employ the platoon HMMWV's and IFAV's (Improved Fast Assault
Vehicle) in a desert environment where mobility is essential in the
intelligence collection effort. Location varies, but usually at Yuma
or 29 Palms.

The final course is the Combat
Trauma Package. This extremely intense and realistic course enables
the individual Marine to identify injuries and render appropriate emergency
care to battle casualties under fire, and for secondary care on evacuation
platforms.

These are complete packages.
The Company Headquarters also deploys to set up a Reconnaissance Operations
Center (ROC) and support the platoon.

At the end of Phase 2 Training,
the platoon is completely stood up in all aspects of the Deep Reconnaissance
mission. More importantly, they have spent 6 months of intensive platoon
oriented training together. They have been operating as a going concern,
a full year prior to deployment.

Phase
3 Training is the MEU (SOC) training. The platoon prepares for MSPF
Direct Action missions under the cognizance of the Special Operations
Training Group (SOTG). The Maritime Special Purpose Force (MSPF) is
a Task Organized form of the Marine Air Ground Task Force for the purpose
of executing a special operation. With elements of the MEU (specifically
the Command Element) and using assets from the BLT, it will have the
Force Plt. as the strike element. If required, aviation support from
the ACE is included. The embarked SEAL Plt. may also be attached if
required.

Phase 4 is the Deployment
phase, 6 months long, in the Persian Gulf or Western Pacific for west
coast Marines, or in the Mediterranean Sea for East Coast Marines. Sustainment
training occurs on a daily basis under the cognizance of the MEU staff.

Phase
5 is the Post Deployment phase. After 18 months of training and deployment,
the platoon is granted 30 days leave. Approximately 50% of the platoon
will leave, their time in Force having expired.

Getting qualified applicants
to take the indoc has always been difficult. Having people pass the
indoc is more difficult still. Several steps have been taken to expose
more people to the system without diluting quality.

One
thing looked at is to start a recon pipeline from the Recruit Training
Depots. The plan was to feed qualified Marines into the Reconnaissance
Bn. and perhaps eventually into Force. While this is still in its infancy,
the Company prefers that those wanting to be in Force Recon be infantry
Corporals or Sergeants with a proven background as a top performer.

Because the pipeline is long,
the Company has an in house Combat Replacement Training Program, utilizing
support personnel assigned to the Company.

All Marines receive basic
infantry training at the School of Infantry. They all know how to shoot,
move and communicate, at least at the infantry squad level. At the Company
they learn to add "think" to that equation, and are trained with, or
parallel to the platoons during portions of the Phase 2 cycle.

Regardless
of MOS or rank (the CO, XO, S1, 2,3,4,6, SuppO, CommO, SgtMaj, ammo
drivers, admin clerks, mechanics and drivers), all are out there during
the Weapons and Tactics package as slots permit.

They receive patrolling,
comm, and combat trauma training. Most attend at least airborne school,
and others as the quotas permit.

The
theory is that during sustained operations, qualified 8654's will be
difficult to come by. The in house replacements may not be fully up
to speed, but they will have a working knowledge of what reconnaissance
is and how to accomplish it.

A deeper and more underlying
reason is that the commanders' intent is for every member of the Company
to be a gunfighter. He wants them to understand that if the Supply Officer
goes into a meeting, he is not there as only the SuppO. He is there
as a gunfighter representing other gunfighters, and that he had better
be successful in his mission.

No Marine joins to be anything
less than that. The reality is that there are a great number of support
billets that must be filled so that some may have the honor of doing
the fighting. The Combat Replacement Training fills the need for Marines
to fill the gap when required, and the additional training gives each
Marine a better sense of mission.

Certain
of the sister services have been infused with "Consideration of Others"
(COO) training, and a general feminization of assets--particularly their
combat assets. The current political administration, in their dislike
of those possessing the warrior spirit, have attempted to initiate certain
social programs into the armed forces, in order to provide the disenfranchised
with a platform and dilute the power of the warrior. Fortunately this
perverse attitude has no place in Force Reconnaissance.